North Memorial Health: Symptoms by BrandFire

The internet has become the first source of healthcare information for many people, but self-diagnosis can lead to plenty of misinformation, as a spot for North Memorial Health humorously shows.

The Minnesota-based healthcare provider enlisted agency BrandFire to compile some of the stranger ailments people think they have after they’ve Googled their symptoms. The spot, titled ‘Symptoms,’ features people discussing the scary results with a North Memorial Health doctor who reassures them that their symptoms are not as scary as the internet has led them to believe. One man is convinced he has scurvy, another bubonic plague while another is convinced he has “Himalayan Mountain Syndrome.”

The commercial explains that, “Searching your symptoms online is scary but our doctors aren’t.” It’s meant to show that trusting a doctor is a lot more reassuring than taking a stab at internet diagnosis.